West Coast are bracing for bad news on Drew Petrie’s broken hand, with the pinch-hitting ruckman set to miss up to 10 weeks.

Petrie broke his hand in the opening stages of Sunday’s AFL win over North Melbourne, and the 34-year-old will undergo surgery this week.

Coach Adam Simpson initially thought Petrie might miss only a few weeks.

But it seems like it could be stretched out much longer than that.

“It’s not great,” Simpson told Channel Seven.

“I haven’t quite got the full results back yet, but at the early stages (it looks like he’ll be out for) six-to-10 weeks.”

Petrie’s absence is a big blow to the Eagles, who are already missing star ruck duo Nic Naitanui (knee) and Scott Lycett (shoulder).

Journeyman Jonathan Giles is almost certain to earn a recall to partner Nathan Vardy in the ruck for Saturday’s clash with St Kilda in Perth.